'Courageous' to have local showing

A highly-anticipated movie is set to premiere in Camden this weekend and Little Theatre owners James and Rita Trivett have donated tickets for every member of law enforcement in Kershaw County. The Camden movie theater will also sell tickets to “Courageous” at a reduced price of $5 to the general public.

Larry Godwin, co-chair of the movie’s campaign committee, said that after watching a private screening during a Sunday school leadership training session in July, he knew he had to find a way for the movie to make its way to Camden.

Produced by Sherwood Pictures, a ministry of Sherwood Baptist Church in Albany, Ga., “Courageous” tells the story of four fathers in law enforcement who find themselves grappling with fatherhood.

“We saw the problems that it was trying to address. More than 24 million children live without their biological fathers -- which is of pandemic proportions,” said Godwin. “That’s what got us involved because it’s a problem nationally, in South Carolina and in Kershaw County. So we thought that we should address it here.”

After returning from the training session, Godwin said he immediately asked the Trivetts to find out what it would take to get the movie screened locally.

“But they were told that limited editions of the movie were being sent out to only 1,000 theaters,” Godwin said.

Smaller markets, such as Camden, would only have the movie available to them after the larger markets finished with them.

“So we formed an ‘action squad’ -- we found a source and contacted her and gave her four to five action points on what we were dong to promote the movie locally. We were told that once they got it, we would go into negotiations -- which would take 14 days,” Godwin said. “But after they got the list, we were approved within one day … and we managed to get it on the national premiere day.”

When determining the price of the tickets, Godwin said they didn’t want to make it prohibitive for most people to see the movie.

“The Trivetts told us they were willing for it to be a lower price because they weren’t in this for the money. We initially printed 2,000 tickets,” Godwin said. “We’re also showing it to the Camden High and North Central High school football teams, and we’re hoping that the Lugoff-Elgin High School football team will see it, too. Football coaches see the value in this movie, and they’re trying to help these young people grow up to be responsible adults. The Trivetts also set up a special showing for Camden Military Academy students next Monday.”

Rita Trivett said Tuesday afternoon she hopes the movie will be one of the largest attended movies the Little Theatre has ever shown. Trivett said she’s always donated tickets to Kershaw County law enforcement officers, in an effort to show her appreciation to them for putting their lives on the line every day.

“This movie has such a great message, and I think everyone needs to see it,” she said. “I would let everyone in free if I could, because it’s just that good of a movie.”